Who needs all those fancy anti-theft devices when you have a manual transmission?
With automatic, continuously variable and dual-clutch transmissions becoming the norm in cars these days, it goes without saying that the number of drivers left in the world who have mastered the art of driving using three pedals are steadily dwindling.
What is perhaps an unintentional consequence of this however is that the number of car thieves out there who know their way around a stick(-shift) has also decreased in recent time. Such is evidenced by yet another story of a failed car-jacking due to the presence of a manual transmission that occurred in Melbourne yesterday.
Occurring on Tovan Akas Avenue in Bentleigh at around 3.30 a.m on the 4th of May (Tuesday), two would-be car thieves had to ultimately abandon their plans to steal a manual Hyundai i30 after having failed to even start the vehicle. And just adding further insult to their injuries, both these thieves had failed to steal the hatchback even after being handed the keys to the car by the owner.
One of the assailants that was armed with a knife had initially threatened the owner of the Hyundai hatchback to hand over the keys of the car and his belongings, for which the man in his 30s dutifully complied. Though even with the keys, the thieves had been ultimately unsuccessful in their attempts to steal the (presumably already unlocked) manual i30 and had to resort fleeing the scene before the cops came.
Both the thieves are unfortunately still at large for the moment, though they are probably laying low for the time being while licking their wounds from this embarrassing escapade.
The moral of this amusing story for car owners out there however is that rather than spending thousands on high tech alarms and immobilisers to prevent your car from wandering off in the night, maybe consider fitting a manual transmission to your pride and joy instead. That is because not only will it make your ride a whole lot fun and engaging to drive, but it has (anecdotally at least) proven to be the best car theft prevention device out there in the current modern age.
